The Great Kapok Tree

Name: Diana Pyatigorsky                                                     

Subject: Science

Lesson Title: The Great Kapok Tree

Grade: Second

Materials/Equipment/Worksheets

• The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

• Journal Paper
• Rainforest music

Pre-assessment of Students Knowledge & Skills: (A) Students have been immersed in a unit on plant diversity and their needs. Students have explored the basic needs of plants such as light, air, water, soil and nutrients but are lacking knowledge in the independence of all living things.

(B)Students were able to accurately describe the components of a rainforest. They completed a K-W-L Chart on and used several resources to develop knowledge.

Content-Specific Standard(s):

Science

Standard 1: Plant Diversity

Identify the basic needs of plants: light, air, water, soil and nutrients.

Observe that plants respond to changes in their environment.

English Language Arts

SL.1.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

SL.1.4. Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

SL.1.5. Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Social Studies

People, Places, and Environments:

The complex relationship between human beings and the environments within which they live and work.

The Arts

Standard 1: Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Arts Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theater, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.

Objectives:

Students will identify plants and animals that live in the rainforest.

Students will be able to state reasons that the rainforest is important to all living things.

Procedure:

a)      Introduction and motivation. 5 min:

“Students, we have traveled to the rainforest and learned about what we may find there. Today we are going to learn how all the living things in the rainforest depend on each other to survive.”

Read Aloud of The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry

b) Activities/Steps –

Direct instruction 15 min: Teacher will ‘think aloud” the events of the book, charting all characters. Students will discuss reasons why the animals didn’t want the tree to be cut down. Teacher will lead class discussion about the negative effects of losing the tree.

Work Time 20 min: Teacher puts on soft rainforest music. http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/what.html

Students will make a journal entry where they list and illustrate the reasons the animals gave for not cutting down the Kapok trees, including labels and detail descriptions.

Closure 10 min: Students will share-out their journal entries.

Assessment: Teacher will assess understanding during conference time and during the share. Ask follow up questions if students are not confident with their explanations. Students will be assessed for their activity participation, their participation as audience members and their working material. Student project work will be reviewed against the rubric below.

Diversity: This lesson continues the work of opening a window into different modalities of learning such as Collaborative and Flexible grouping, scaffolding, varied time allowance, multiple intelligences, varied demonstrations, simulations, use of visuals and role play.

Differentiation:

“A hands-on activity supports students who struggle with verbal skills” (Cornett, 2011). Using visual and tactile skills, students that struggle with writing are able to use the images to show that they understand the content. This lesson also supports concreteness of the topic with the use of pictures, labels and names

Kapok Tree Rubric

Student Work: Illustration Rubric